Guru Hanuman Akhara

Despite its modest appearance, the Guru Hanuman Akhara looms large in the history of Indian wrestling. Established by the legendary wrestler Guru Hanuman (1930-1999) on land donated by the industrialist K. K. Birla in 1955 it has produced some of India’s brightest wrestling stars, and claims medals from the Asian Games, the Commonwealth games and the Olympic Games in its history.

Guru Hanuman himself was famed for marrying traditional Indian wrestling (pehlwani) with international wrestling approaches, enabling wrestlers to compete on the world stage. Certainly, the traditional element remains very clear today; training sessions are held in an earth pit, with wrestlers wearing only a langot (loincloth), and with manyleading an almost monastic life, living communally and abstaining from drinking, smoking, sex and non-vegetarian food..

Today between 125 and 200 wrestlers are coached by Maha Singh Rao, who once worked under Guru Hanuman and who has received the Dronacharya Award (the highest award in Indian sports and Athletics). Few concessions to modernity have been made, and the offer of a new site with modern facilities was rejected on the grounds that the current site is believed sacred (although a gymnasium for trainees has now been built next door).